Crown 25

Gatekeeper: The Boss’s desire for the Apostle was passionate, to say the least. He doted on ‘im like he was his own son, looked to entrust every single thing to him.

But that didn’t sit right with the Priest.

He was scared the Apostle would snatch everything away from him, even if the Apostle himself probably didn’t care about doin’ none of that.

Seiya: ...So it’s possible that that’s why Akehoshi-kun was destroyed.

Gatekeeper: Hate to tell ya, but the details aren’t too clear. I wanna say it was the Priest’s handiwork, but there’s no proof. The proof’s buried an’ gone by now.

The Apostle caused some broad’s death on stage, got condemned, and lost it all. Him dyin’ in the slammer is also true, though I never saw the body, myself.

Seiya: ...Subaru-kun would be sad if he knew this. No matter what the circumstances were, he must have had some hope that his father might still be alive.

Gatekeeper: He’s dead. Had he been alive, he woulda gone runnin’ right back to his family. That’s the kinda man the Apostle was.

Wouldn’t matter if he’d got his arms an’ legs cut off or he’d been locked up somewhere; he woulda made it happen.

He had the ability to do it, too. He was the sorta guy who could make miracles happen. That’s why he was worthy of inheriting the Boss’s empire.

...You can’t replace a man like that; it’s why the Boss broke. I’m sure even the Priest didn’t expect that one, even though he orchestrated the whole thing.

The Boss had already retired from bein’ an idol and moved to work the background, but from then on it was like he hated anything and everything and faded out left all that work behind.

And all of it got dumped right into mine an’ the Priest’s laps.

Last time I saw the Boss, he was nothin’ but a tired, shriveled-up old man.

I dunno what happened after that.

I got no ties to this country except for the Boss. My turf is out there—I moved overseas and stirred up trouble that-a way.

I didn’t expect to come back here again, ‘specially like this. This damn place’s got nothin’ but happy, warm memories of be an’ the Boss. Just breathin’ the air gives me a migraine.

The weight of what I lost makes my head spin.

But the Priest stayed behind. He was always lurkin’ in the shadows, but now he eliminated his presence entirely an’ worked in total darkness.

He was like some kinda demon makin’ its nest in the underbelly of the entertainment world. An’ what happened after that, I think you know, Hidaka.

The Priest was only ever a body double, after all. He couldn’t really take the place of God. Pit him and the Boss against each other, and it’s no contest.

A shitty demon like that can’t possibly be God’s replacement.

The entertainment industry the Boss loved so much became corrupt and fell into ruin. There came the era of decline.

The Priest became the industry’s wirepuller an’ surrounded himself with people just like him. He gave ‘em status an’ power, and they devoured every privilege they got like gluttons.

The bastard an’ his minions still rule the industry from its upper ranks, doin’ whatever they damn well please.

ES fused with that old-world industry the second he was established, takin’ in all its filth an’ everythin’ else.

Seiya: They’re the upper echelons of ES, you mean to say? Entrusting those originally in power to govern a new invading body is an effective strategy.

But as a result of that, many of those in power who weren’t purged and who only care about their own interests are still camped out at the top of the industry.

We were able to get rid of a lot of those types in charge of CosPro at last year’s SS.^[1]

But CosPro is just an emerging power. Only a small fraction of the industry has actually been cleansed.

Unless we can attack the hotbed of corruption, the root of the evil, we won’t be able to rid the industry of its darkness.

Gatekeeper: You got it. The idol industry is a giant tree, rotted down to its roots.

This time you got rid of the Priest, the source of the corruption, but won’t it all collapse sooner or later?

Seiya: That’s one possibility, but I’m choosing to be a bit more optimistic.

We can use the rotting tree as fertile grounds to let a new giant tree—ES—spread out its branches.

Now that we’ve cut out the lesion, the great tree, with its roots spreading across the nation via SS, will be able to proudly thrive in all its splendor.

Akehoshi-kun’s ideals are still just a seed waiting to sprout in these modern idols.

At the very least, I know of several who fit the bill.

As long as those kids exist, I’m sure everything will be fine.

Gatekeeper: That a calculation you ran yourself?

Seiya: No, it’s just my own personal wish. A hope that things will turn out like that.

Gatekeeper: Well, I couldn’t give less of a shit. What happens to you idols is none of my concern.

I just couldn’t let it slide that the Priest ruined everything the Boss wanted at the last moment, when coulda been livin’ out his twilight years in peace.

Seiya: What do you mean?

Gatekeeper: There was a journal left behind at the temple where the Boss stayed. At the start it was just recordin’ his daily life, but then things took a turn for the strange.

Started talkin’ about how “that Akehoshi,” how the Apostle had actually survived and was comin’ to see him.

After that, all the entries weren’t in the Boss’s handwritin’, an’ more of ‘em were penned by the Apostle.

Seiya: And this “Apostle” was—

Gatekeeper: Not the Apostle. He’s dead.

I thought at first it coulda just been the Boss seein’ things in his old age. But nah, that’s the Boss we’re talkin’ about. He wouldn’t go hallucinatin’ sweet memories just because he was gettin’ up there in years.

I know he was sane until the bitter end. The Boss was a great man, and he stayed just as all-powerful and all-knowing as ever.